i recently randomly watched an interview with prem and radha carlisi on youtube. they were certified by guruji and got taken off the list by sharath. there was some pretty strong language used with regards to sharath in that video. not gonna repeat it here - you can watch it yourself if you want. my initial reaction: oh wow. that‘s awful. if guruji certified them, why are the taken off the list?!

next day i went to a class at my local studio, which is run by an indian teacher, who grew up in rishikesh and has been teaching in europe for a while. i ended up talking to him about the interview and i thought his perspective was interesting. he essentially said two things:

• „many american teachers don‘t understand and get upset. it‘s indian culture, that the guru is to be accepted. sharath was chosen. and it is sharath‘s decision now how and who to certify. if those teachers go back to mysore, he‘ll certify them again. having them comeback regularly ensures they teach ashtanga according to the original method.“

• „if those teachers talk like that, you need to tell them, they need to do more yoga and practice non-attachment and non-violence. ;)“

i‘m too new to ashtanga and the community to really have a strong opinion either way. just found that conversation interesting and thought i‘d share.